What Could Have Been
by SanjouinDacapo
Summary: What if Janeway had used the Array to go home? Years later, Neelix gets a visit from one of his descendents and they have a chat, and she has some bad news: The Federation is in danger.


_Yes, this is a fic with Neelix. I've always liked him, and was sad when he and Kes broke up. Years later I wanted to write about how things would have been had Voyager's crew gone home right away instead of wandering the Delta Quadrant._

_I took some liberty with the whole Ocampan reproductive system because the way they reproduced as mentioned in "Elogium" where they may just have one or two kids is just... not that realistic. In this continuity, Ocaman women have a few cycles for one year, and it usually starts at around four or five. This way they won't become extinct due to low birthrate._

_Also, I made a couple edits so this version is a bit different from the one posted in my Deviantart gallery. I'm planning on making some more chapters and putting in some weird mindscrewyness because I enjoy that kind of story._

Neelix chopped up some vegetables that he had grown in his hydroponics garden, and he hummed an old tune that was popular during his childhood. Many years had passed, and he had lived in that same old house in San Francisco since Kes' death.

Kes had died a few months before her ninth birthday, as her health had declined due to birthing four children during her Year of Mitralla. She had three daughters and one son, and they had since passed away, which had broken Neelix's heart. It was hard on him, to say the least, watching the same children he raised quickly becoming wizened and old at the tender age of eight.

These children all had ginger hair but with their mother's hairline, and their father's spots, but less pronounced. Their skin had a somewhat olive tone, but they looked almost like trills. The only physical difference besides their hair being stiffer than that of humans or trills was their Ocampan ears. They had telepathic abilities, on par with those of a Betazoid hybrid, and were able to detect whether or not someone was a Dominion spy. They were instrumental in helping the Federation win the Dominion war, and banishing the pagh-wraiths.

The eldest, Melixi, had become a captain at the age of six, the youngest Federation citizen to earn that rank. The twins, Jerixa and Fellox, had become doctors and were good friends with Doctor Catherine Pulaski. Alixia married a Bajoran vedek and was instrumental in uncovering a conspiracy by Kai Winn Adami, forcing Winn to resign in disgrace. There were several attempts on Alixia's life after that, including while she was carrying her second child, so she and her husband fled to Arizona, Earth, to raise their family in peace. After the war ended, they went to live with Neelix.

The elderly Talaxian sighed as he placed the celery in the pot. Since Voyager had reached the Alpha Quadrant, he had learned many new recipes and cooking techniques, including 'stir-frying'. He fell in love with soy sauce and hot peppers, and the sweet and sour. His recipes were enjoyed by some, while others joked that so terrible even a Gorn couldn't stomach it. As he added the water chestnuts and soybean pods, Neelix heard a beep at his door.

"Come in," he said, welcoming the company.

The door opened, and a woman entered. She had long, black flowing hair with a touch of ginger, and dark brown eyes. Her facial features looked Romulan, though her skin was a more human peach tone. Her nose had faint Bajoran ridges, while her ears were pointed, like those of Vulcans and Romulans.

"Grandpa Neelix!" she called, "Is this a... bad time?"

Neelix turned around, smiling at the sound of her voice, and walked over with his arms outstretched. He greeted her with a big hug, as he did with all his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on.

"Alyssa! Oh, this is such a nice surprise! You've grown so much! It seems like only yesterday you were only this high!"

He indicated that with his hand, then motioned for her to come in.

"Well, what brings you here today? Have you been accepted into Starfleet Academy?"

Laughing, the woman shook her head.

"I haven't gotten the chance to take the exams yet," she explained, "I'm looking after Grandma Alixia... and some local children while their parents are away. Some of them are quite a handful - at first they wouldn't obey me because I was younger than they were. Their parents had to ground them. I guess all you have to do is take away their holodeck and replicated sweets privileges, and they start minding the two-year-old nanny. So how has life been treating you, Grandpa?"

"More like four times Great-Grandpa," Neelix chuckled, "I'm doing fine. Had to replant the flowerbed at the Academy grounds again. Those cadets keep on picking the flowers and they don't realize that these flowers don't just spring back up again! It takes work!"

He had become the Academy Groundskeeper after the death of Boothby, tending to the lawn, trees and flowerbeds daily, and like Boothby he refused to use pesticides.

"Anyway," Alyssa began, "I'm here because there's something... I need to talk about. It's been bugging me since I was little. And it's something you probably won't believe at all."

"Try me," Neelix reassured her, "Before I met Kes, I never dreamed that a sapient species would have such a short lifespan."

"Well," she said, "I've always had this feeling like there was something terribly wrong with our history. I mean... uh... well-"

Neelix gave her a confused, worried look.

"W-wrong? How could it be wrong?"

"I don't know," the woman sighed, "I just know that this is not the way it was meant to be. I'm not supposed to even exist. None of my brothers, sisters or cousins... or my parents and their parents... at least not the ones descended from you."

She looked down and shook her head.

"I-I... hope I don't sound as crazy as I think I sound."

Neelix shrugged.

"Kes had some mental powers - the usual telepathy and then she started moving things around without touching them. And she could even look into the future sometimes, and she even knew some things about people she never met, late in her life."

"Did my three-times great-grandma have any of those powers?"

"Oh Alixia," Neelix replied, wistfully, "She was so brilliant like her brother and sisters. I remember when she decided to marry that Vedek - I think his name was Idann. We had some disagreements about her involvement in the Dominion War. She didn't speak to me for around half a year - I don't know how long that is in Ocampan years but it must have been a long time for her."

"What was the disagreement about?"

"It was about simply being involved! Melixi of course had to be involved - she was a tactical officer back then - but Alixia was uncovering conspiracies just by reading emotions, thoughts, even seeing the future. It was so dangerous, and it worried me that my little girl was going to get herself killed!"

"I remember you telling me that the Dominion had its... Voorkas?"

"Vortas," Neelix corrected, "And yes, they did make several attempts on her life under the guise of Federation citizens. There were even a few Kai Winn supporters who wanted her dead after Winn committed suicide while in prison. She moved in with me after the war was over. I can't tell you how happy I was just to see her alive and well. And I finally met my three new grandsons! Oh, did I tell you how two of them became captains at the age of nine?"

Alyssa nodded.

"Those were good times," he said, "I remember Jareth's wedding, when he was an engineer. He married a petty officer by the name of Kristin. One of their daughters, Patricia, married a Romulan ambassador. It's amazing how many generations I've watched pass - it seems like a blink of an eye. But... where were we?"

"Heh, it's about this feeling I've had, about this whole timeline being wrong."

The woman paused, then gasped suddenly.

"There's something terribly wrong!" she said, "We are ALL in danger!"

"W-what's the danger? Are the Changelings attacking again? Have they been growing some new Jem'hadar? I'll contact Odo and-"

"NO NO!" Alyssa interrupted, "It's not them... it's the Ocampa. I can sense it now. I have to warn the others!"


End file.
